Wish I was climbing, but happy I'm cycling...

I've been road riding a lot lately (for me); actually it's unusual for me to be riding this much early in the season. I rode a lot last year around this time but the impetus for that was the aquisition of a new downhill mountain bike and the riding was all done on the trails of Mt. Seymour and Mt. Fromme.

The reason I've been riding more than usual is because 3 weeks ago I injured my shoulder doing my preferred early season activity: bouldering in Squamish on perfect granite in perfect temperatures with good people. I had been having a good day, even sending my project du jour, Mosquito Incubator which I was quite chuffed about as I felt it didn't suit me at all. I had also made considerable progress on my next project and another Squamish classic, No Troublems. To end the day, I chose a near-vertical problem called Class Dismissed just behind the Octagon Boulder. I quickly sorted the sequence, hit the lip but backed off feeling a little insecure pressing out the mantle with no spotter (see, I am getting smarter with age! Har har har). I rested briefly and then tried once more to see if I hadn't missed any holds above the lip to aid in finishing the climb. As I made the move to the incut in teh center of the face, I felt my shoulder clunk a bit as I caught the hold. There was no pain, but I did notice that much of my weight appeared to have been taken by the joint rather than my muscles. Anyways, I bcked off again at the lip and drove the 1.5 hrs back to Vancouver thrilled with my progress on No Troublems and having sent my project .

I woke up Monday morning and could barely lift my right arm...what the heck?!! Now it's 3 weeks later, significant improvement seems elusive and I have a diagnostic ultrasound scheduled for next Wednesday.

So that's why I've been road riding a lot lately. But like my friend Nolan said today, "You can't appreciate the day without night", and I believe there is silver lining to every cloud. Hopefully all this extra riding allows me to achieve my goal of going under 3 hours in the 2009 Test of Metal mountin bike race in June. We'll see...

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend doing whatever you do!